The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is one of the oldest Royal Clubs in the world. The Club’s beginning was formed under a calabash tree by British military officers and Bermudian sailing enthusiasts. So began a story and a history of romantic proportions.
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is one of the oldest Royal Clubs in the world. Its beginnings were formed under a calabash tree by British military officers and Bermudian sailing enthusiasts. So began a story and a history of romantic proportions.It is the R.B.Y.C. and Bermuda that gave so many ideas and concepts to the world of sailing.
When one looks on a map of the Atlantic Ocean and sees that tiny dot called Bermuda, one could never conceive of how much practical knowledge of the sea evolved from this place, and how much was contributed to modern hull designs including ships and small dinghies. This club becomes the large part of the whole of that contribution.When Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, the keen yachting enthusiast that she was, it opened doors for Bermuda to become a yachting power. The formation of the R.B.Y.C meant there was a firm foundation and structure that has continued until today.The sport of sailboat racing, in an organized fashion, meant our island people had an activity they would genuinely spectate and enjoy, even wager over. This gave us a unique perspective of how rules were made, how conceptual structures were built, how arguments about sailing were settled.
This is truly a wonderful tale of how a “Lilliputian Society” managed to break this shackles and be “The Mouse that Roared”. We were culture that played itself between Britain, Northern Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. These are things that are part of our club, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.